Armavia suspends all flights at Zvartnots airport due to debts

Armenia International Airports Company has halted all the flights of the national airline carrier Armavia this morning at the Zvartnots international airport in Yerevan.

Commenting on the reasons press service of the Armenia International Airports told Tert.am that Armavia has incurred large debts and has therefore been obliged to take that step.

Armavia's press service could not be reached throughout an hour till 10 am this morning.

Armavia is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Zvartnots International Airport. It operates international passenger services from Yerevan to destinations in Europe and Asia.

The Armavia Company was established in 1996, but commercial flights to Russia and Turkey only started in 2001. In 2002, a strategic alliance was set up with the Russian airline S7 Airlines which purchased 50% of Armavia's shares from the "Chernomoravia" company under the name of the "Aviafin" company registered in Armenia.

Later, it bought an additional 18% of shares from Mika Armenia Trading company owned by prominent Armenian businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov. An investment contract between S7 Airlines and Armavia was signed on 14 March 2003, at which point 68% of Armavia's shares were owned by S7 Airlines and the remaining 32% by Mika Armenia Trading.